Storm has exposed 'massive infrastructural deficits'

Independent Offaly TD Carol Nolan has said the political impact of Storm Eowyn has been to ‘blow the roof off the carefully constructed narrative that Ireland’s major infrastructural deficits are a thing of the past.”

Deputy Nolan said even allowing for the relatively rare nature of the event, it was an international embarrassment to see the country crippled by such extensive damage to its electricity, telecoms, and water infrastructure:

“This event, which lasted a little over 24 hours has brought the country to its knees, while leaving hundreds of thousands of homes exposed to a prolonged absence of energy of any kind,” said Deputy Nolan.

“Clearly the workers in our local authorities and in the ESB have gone above and beyond and I commend them for their heroic work to restore power and facilities to those impacted by the storm. But at this stage it is simply tragic and indeed infuriating that every time we have a significant weather event our networks essentially collapse.”

“Where is the evidence that we are ready to future-proof our systems against further collapses of this kind. It is just not good enough that we must rely on generator capacity being brought in from other EU member states.”

“I know from the emails and calls that I received through Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that there is enormous frustration out there in Offaly and beyond; not so much regarding the nature of the response from utilities workers, but more so about how we keep finding ourselves being put this position as a country.”

“We are a country awash with billions in exchequer revenue and yet despite this the perception persists, with clear justification, that we cannot even get the basics right. That has to change,” concluded Deputy Nolan.